Jan 3 Brian Cage headlines Warrior Wrestling, IMPACT this weekend

The itinerary of the man known as “the Machine” includes stops at Warrior Wrestling in suburban Chicago and IMPACT Wrestling at the Nashville Fairgrounds.

Before wrestling for the IMPACT World Championship against Johnny Impact on IMPACT’s Homecoming pay-per-view event on Sunday night, Cage hits the Windy City to defend his Warrior Wrestling Championship at Warrior Wrestling 3 on Saturday night at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights.

Cage will face independent sensation Bandido, who has been making a name for himself over the last year. Bandido wrestled for PROGRESS Wrestling at Cicero Stadium when the company did its U.S. tour in August and then was part of main event at ALL IN as part of a six-man tag team match with Fenix and Rey Mysterio as his partners.

“Bandido is a great all-around performer,” Cage said during IMPACT Wrestling’s Press Pass on Thursday. “I recently had the opportunity to face him in Australia for the first time. I’m looking forward to the rematch (at Warrior Wrestling 3).”

Cage spent a brief period with Florida Championship Wrestling, the WWE developmental territory that morphed into NXT. He has been wrestling over a decade, including stops in Mexico with AAA and in the U.S. with Lucha Underground, before arriving in IMPACT in January 2018.

He defeated Bobby Lashley and EC3 before they left the company for WWE and then won the X Division Championship from Matt Sydal at Slammiversary on July 22. Cage cashed in “Option C,” meaning the X Division champion can surrender that title for a shot at the IMPACT World Championship, setting up his title fight with Johnny Impact.

“I think John and I will pull off the match of the night and steal the spotlight,” Cage said. “I’m confident. I feel like it’s long overdue for me to have a major world’s championship. I’m tired of waiting. I’m more than ready.”

The insatiable Cage also gave Johnny Impact some respect.

“I don’t think there’s anyone that can do the stuff that Johnny does. I think Johnny and Fenix are the most unique individuals in the ring. They both can do stuff that nobody else can do.”

In addition to working for IMPACT, Cage has wrestled around the world on independent events. He praised the independent scene.

One of Cage’s previous stops in Chicago included a summer weekend trip to Starrcast, ALL IN and Warrior Wrestling 2. Cage became Warrior Wrestling’s first-ever champion by winning a unique eight-man War of Attrition match over Fenix, Pentagon Jr., Sammy Guevara, Mysterio, Austin Aries, Jeff Cobb and Rich Swann.

“The All In show was one of the coolest moments in wrestling,” Cage said. “There’s so many awesome places to work right now. I think professional wrestling as a whole is on an upswing.”

Cage also appeared on the first Warrior Wrestling show when he squared off against fellow IMPACT star Moose.

Cage’s match against Bandido will be the main event at Warrior Wrestling 3. Promoter Steve Tortorello has put together another strong card for Saturday’s show, including a tag team match between The Lucha Bros. (Fenix & Pentagon) against Team White Wolf (A-Kid & Carlos Romo), Eddie Edwards against Austin Aries in a battle of former IMPACT World Champions, and Tessa Blanchard against Britt Baker.

“Warrior Wrestling is a phenomenal company,” Cage said. “That’s one of the better places to work even though they’re new to the game. Top-notch professionalism from beginning to end.”

Cage’s upcoming bouts with Bandido and Johnny Impact should test Cage’s ability against versatile, high-flyers. The 6-foot, 270-pound Northern California native isn’t just a hulking, power wrestler, he has also displayed his own array of high-flying maneuvers.

Cage-Impact will main event Sunday night at Homecoming, which also features the Lucha Bros. against LAX (Santana & Ortiz) for the IMPACT Tag Team titles and Blanchard against Taya Valkyrie for the IMPACT Knockouts title.

Over the next few days, Cage plans on capturing some more gold to add to his collection.

“I have an awesome weekend of matches lined up for me and I plan on walking out still the Warrior Wrestling Champion and adding the IMPACT world title.”

Brian Cage cashed in the IMPACT X Division Championship for a shot at the IMPACT World Championship against Johnny Impact on Sunday night. Cage also defends the Warrior Wrestling Championship against Bandido on Saturday night. (Photo courtesy IMPACT Wrestling)